The Coffee Compels Me

I just dragged myself through the chapter where I introduce my villain(s).  Ergh – it took me four cups of coffee to make it to the end.

You wouldn’t believe how hard it is to write about someone being slowly torn apart without using the ‘bad’ words (those you’re not allowed to use when writing).  Or repeating ‘bubbling blood, frothing blood, pooling blood’ or any other descriptive involving bloody blood.  By the time I was halfway through I rather thought my ‘shredded organs’ were inspired.

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Gone With The Romantic Ideals

What we consider romantic ideals are sometimes the strangest things.  I’ve often been struck by something I’ve thought particularly romantic, which has occurred in the middle of a story that is not romantic at all.  Then there are the stories and movies which are considered romantic and which have left me wondering why.

Take Gone with the Wind for example.

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Sweet Scent of Success

Why is smell so important in romance novels?  Have you noticed how much scent is involved in the average romance?  But even more interesting than this, is the amount you find in paranormal romance.  Everyone seems to be smelling everyone else in HD.

Is it because vampires, werewolves et al have a keener sense of smell?  Or being supernatural, otherworldly type creatures, are they meant to smell preternaturally more than the average human male/female?  (Who in my experience wear those terrible deodorants that double as aftershave/perfume erghh).

I have a theory.

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Ranting Mistakes

Okay – I’m gonna have a mini rant.  About mistakes in blogs, articles, comments, websites and books.  I don’t mean littlies either.  I mean whoppers.  Like putting ‘completely’ when it should have been ‘complete’.  Come on people – that’s two extra letters and a whole other world of meaning!

What really takes my chocolate layer cake is when it’s authors making these mistakes.  Constantly.  After all – we should know better.  And there are some doozies on author websites – ahem – you’re meant to know how to spell.

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